Capsules for covering bottle tops



Feb. 5, 1957 R. N. FERGUSON CAPSULES Foa covERING BOTTLE Tops Filed Sept. 30, 1954 United States Patent O 2,780,379 CAPSULES FOR COVERING BOTTLE TOPS Robert N. Ferguson, Drummondville, Quebec, Canada,

assignor to Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 30, 1954, Serial No. 459,265

Claims. (Cl. 21S-38) This invention relates to capsules for covering the upper ends of bottles after the bottles have been corked, the capsules being closed at the top and open at the bottom so as to be slipped over the bottles and aring downwardly to t the bottle necks.

Objects of the invention are to provide a capsule which can be made economically, which is neat and attractive in appearance and which permits ready removal of the upper end of the capsule when the bottle is to be opened.

In one aspect the present invention involves a method of making capsules which comprisessecuring a reinforcing ribbon to a sheet of covering material along a straight line, stamping from the sheet a series of blanks each tapered toward the top and having parallel -rows of `perforations extending from side to side to form a tear-out strip therebetween, the rows being concave toward the top so that they lie in horizontal planes `w-hen a blank is bent into a conical capsule, one end of each tear-out strip having an integral extension which projects beyond the edge of the blank, said series of blanks being distributed lengthwise of the aforesaid ribbon with the ribbon located between the rows, the strip being wider than the ribbon, so that the ribbon may be disposed in a straight line while being confined substantially to the space between said concave rows. While the ribbon may have any desired cross-sectional shape it is preferably at. lt should be for-med of strong fibrous material which prevents the tear-out strip from tearing off as it is torn out.

In another aspect the invention involves a blank'such as described above, the upper edge of the blank preferably being serrated to form tapered fingers adapted to bend inwardly over a cap in non-overlapping relationship to each other.

In still another aspect the invention involves a capsule made by bending the aforesaid blank into conical shape with its margins overlapped and cemented together, the capsule preferably having a cap in its upper end with the aforesaid iingers bent over the cap and secured thereto.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a diagram illustrating the method of manufacture;

Fig. 2 is a strip of material for use in making the capsules, indicating the lines along which the material is to be cut to form the blanks for making the capsules;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the upper end of a bottle with one of the capsules applied thereto;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the capsule; and

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

The apparatus illustrated in Fig. l comprises three pairs of rollers 1, 2 and 3, a single roller 4, a guide 6, an anvil 7, an endless carrier -belt 8 feeding between the rollers 2, thence over the anvil 7, thence over the upper roll 3, thence under the guide 6, and thence between the two rolls 3, back to the rolls 2, over a series of supporting rolls or bars 9, and an embossing printing unit 11 of the French edge type cooperating with the anvil 7. A

2,780,379 Patented Feb. 5, 1957l strip of paper cap P is fed from a roll 12 and a ribbon R is fed from a roll 13, the two being brought together between the feed rolls 1 which squeeze them together. The inner face of the sheet P is preferably gummed and before the ribbon R is pressed againstl the gummed surface of the sheet the ribbon is moistened by a moistening unit 14 of standard construction. Thus when the moistened ribbon is pressed against the gummed surface of the sheet P by the rollers 1 the ribbon adheres to the sheet along a straight line. As the sheet continues over the anvil 7 the blanks are cut from the composite sheet intermittently by the embossing unit 11. The skeleton waste strip feeds to a take-up roll 16,' leaving the blanks deposited on the belt 8 by which they are deposited on table 17 in a stack 18. y v

Each blank is shaped as shown in Fig. 2, the lower edge 21 being convex downwardly, the upper edge being similarly curved and serrated to form a series of tapered ngers 22, the lateral edges 23 and 24 tapering upwardly and a tear-out strip 26 being formed by two rows of per forations 27 and 28 which are parallel to the lower edge 21 and disposed on opposite sides of the ribbon R. At one end the tear-out strip extends beyond the edge 24 of the blank to form a projecting tab 29.

To form a capsule from the blank, the blank is bent into the shape shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 with the margin v24l overlapping the margin 23 and secured thereto by means of the gumming on the inside of the margin 24 and with the tab 29 projecting to one side of the capsule'.

When the blank is thus bent into the shape of a truncated cone the curved lower and upper edges 21 and 22 and the rows of perforations 27 and 28 are located in parallel horizontal planes as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, while the reinforcing ribbon R is disposed in a plane inclined to the axis of the cap with its central portion adjacent the row of perforations 27 and its ends adjacent the row of perforations 28. Disposed in the top of the capsule is a disk 31, the fingers 22 being bent over the disk and secured thereto by means of the gumming on the inside of the blank. To permit the escape of air as the capsule is apl plied over a bottle, an opening 32 is provided at the center of the cap. Before a capsule is applied over a corked bottle the gumming on the inside of the capsule is moistened so that the capsule adheres to the bottle when compressed against the neck of the bottle. While the entire capsule may be caused to adhere to the bottle, preferably the gumming is moistened only up to the line 28.

To remove the capsule the strip 26'is torn out by pulling on the tab 29, after which the upper end of the capsule may be removed to expose the cork or cap.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. For making a capsule to cover the upper end of a bottle, the method which comprises securing a reinforcing ribbon to a sheet of covering material along a straight line, stamping from the sheet a series of blanks each tapered toward the top and having parallel rows `of perforations extending from side to side to form a tear-out strip therebetween, the rows being concave toward the top so that they lie in horizontal planes when a blank is bent into a conical capsule, one end of each tear-out strip having an integral extension which projects beyond the edge of the blank, said series of blanks being distributed lengthwise of said ribbon with the ribbon located between said rows, and the strip being wider than the ribbon so that the ribbon may be disposed in a straight line while being confined substantially to the space between said concave rows.

2. For making a capsule to cover the upper end of a remera bottle, a blank tapered toward the top and having parallel rows of perforations extending from side to side to form a tear-out strip therebetween, the rows being concave toward the top so that they lie in horizontal planes when the blank is bent into a conical capsule, one end of said tear-out strip having an integral extension which projects beyond the edge of the blank, and a reinforcing ribbon secured to said strip throughout its length, the strip being wider than the ribbon and the ribbon being disposed in a straight line between said concave rows,

3, For making a capsule to cover the upper end of a bottle, a blank tapered toward the top and having parallel rows of perforations extending from side to side to form a tear-out strip therebetween, the rows being concave toward the top so that they lie in horizontal planes when the blank is bent into a conical capsule, one end of said tear-ont strip having an integral extension which projects beyond the edge of the blank, and a reinforcing ribbon secured to said strip throughout its length, the strip being wider than the ribbon and the ribbon being disposed in a straight line between said concave rows, and the upper edge of the blank bein-g serrated to form tapered lingers adapted to bend inwardly over a cap in non-overlapping relationship to each other.

4. For covering the upper end of a bottle, a capsule comprising a sheet bent into conical shape with its margins overlapped and cemented together, the capsule having parallel rows of perforations extending circumferentially of the capsule in spaced horizontal planes to form a tearout strip therebetween, the outer end of the tear-out strip having an integral extension which projects beyond its outer overlapping margin, and a reinforcing ribbon ex- Cil tending along said strip in non-parallel relation to said rows so that it is near one of the rows at the middle and near the other row at the ends, the ribbon being on the inside of the capsule and secured thereto at each end.

5. For covering the upper end of a bottle, a capsule comprising a sheet bent into conical shape wit-h its man gins overlapped and cemented together, the capsule having parallel rows of perforations extending circumferentially of the capsule in spaced horizontal planes to form a tear-out strip therebetween, the outer end of the tear-out strip having an integral extension which projects beyond its outer overlapping margin, a reinforcing ribbon extending along said strip in non-parallel relation to said rows so that it is near one of said rows at the middle and near the other row at the ends, and a cap in t-he upper end of the capsule, the upper edge of the sheet being serrated to form tapered fingers which are bent inwardly over the cap in non-overlappingl relationship to each other and secured thereto, the ribbon being on the inside of the capsule and secured thereto at each end.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 900,953 Reber Oct. 13, 1908 1,963,994 Herrmann June 26, 1934 2,265,609 Milrnoe et al Dec. 9,1941 2,562,423 Hood July 31, 1951 2,666,542 Price Jan. 19, 1954 2,691,856 Jensen et al. Oct. 19, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 454,312 Canada `lan. 25, 1949 

